Gay & Lesbian Budapest

Budapest has been more and more accepting of LMBTQ society in recent years. This has completely rewritten the cultural life of the city: not only is Pride held with more and more participants every year, there are LMBTQ film festivals and gay oriented media is gaining momentum. As one of the most romantic cities in Europe, Budapest is a pleasure to visit for every couple all year round.

One of the best known and trailblazing gay clubs is Alterego, open on Fridays and Saturdays, which organises thematic nights and drag shows. Alterego is a classic, but recently a new kind of nightlife has been becoming popular in the LMBTQ community; permanent clubs have been replaced by party series aimed at various groups. The monthly Garçons parties are club nights for young, fashionable urbanites. The parties are held at a different location every time, taking over the coolest, most exclusive bars of the city. Garçons started a real trend a few years ago in gay and lesbian nightlife. Hello, another monthly series followed shortly, dedicated to lovers of iconic pop divas and the legendary buzz of gay parties. The quarterly Confetti Dreams series became an instant classic, and unlike those previously mentioned it set its sights on a less mainstream audience, focusing on dance and club music. The same is true of the !tape parties organised by !Szakafander, they leave the mainstream behind for more alternative and indie music, and masterpieces of the eighties. !tape is on every Friday at Anker't, open to those who are looking for a beer and great company rather than a crazy party, with a bit of dancing of course. WOW, which stands for Women on Women welcomes lesbians every month with catchy pop tunes.

If you're looking for a friendly place for a cocktail or even a hot chocolate and the occasional karaoke, Why Not Café on Belgrád rakpart is perfect choice.

There are a number of saunas to choose from in Budapest: Szauna 69, Magnum Szauna andCoxx organise thematic nights and offer special deals for sauna enthusiasts who are looking to meet new people.

For an up to date guide to LMBTQ Budapest keep an eye out for the free Humen Magazin, which turned three this year and now contains English pages as well to help tourists and expats who want to discover the LMBTQ side of the city. For a comprehensive overview of the gay friendly restaurants, bars and hostels of the city, look for Humen's special listings edition complete with maps. So far it is only available in Hungarian, but Pinkpuli.com, a gay lifestyle online magazine is worth a visit to learn more about the LMBTQ party scene and its most interesting characters.